


I'll Definitely Make You Fall In Love With Me!

by strawberryTala



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Accidental Aphrodisiacs, Alternate Universe, Aphrodisiacs, Dorks in Love, F/M, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Love Potion/Spell, Magic, Silly, They don't actually do anything during that, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22748842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryTala/pseuds/strawberryTala
Summary: Rin is a witch in love with her best friend. Determined to have him to herself, she turns to magical methods, confident she can make it happen and have Yugo run into her arms so they can walk off into the sunset.If only Love Potions actually worked on Yugo.
Relationships: Rin/Yugo (Yu-Gi-Oh)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	I'll Definitely Make You Fall In Love With Me!

* * *

On the outskirts of a town, nestled among the trees and next to a sparkling river of water, there sat a house. A quite odd one, with a blue roof layered like a cake, windows in green and pink glass, and a round double-door in purple.

On the other side of the circular doors, there was a small shop. Shelves and tables were filled with unusual items, jars and bottles with colourful contents, trinkets and jewelry. From hooks and holders hanging from the ceiling, various bells and wind chimes hung. While hanging still in the quiet room, their delicate shapes and intricate details promised sweet sounds and charming chimes.

Further in, behind a counter made of white wood with branches still growing out of it for decoration and up a few steps, there was a heavy door. While usually shut, today, it stood open just a creak, dim light spilling out.

If you were to look inside, you’d see a workroom. The walls were full of shelves stacked with all kinds of odd items, dried herbs hung from the ceiling, and one bookshelf was crammed full of old, thick books.

In the middle of the dimly lit room, with only some candles lit as a source of light, there sat a cauldron on a fire. And standing before it, big spoon in one hand and a parchment floating in the air, there stood a girl. A girl in a pointy, layered hat in much the same shape as the house’s roof. Short, curly green hair peeked out under it, her clothes in shades of green, blue, and a splash of pink.

It was the owner and sole resident of the house, a young witch called Rin. Who was in the middle of making a very, very important potion.

“Next is…” she says, looking at the list of ingredients with keen amber eyes. “The gold apple seeds. Put them in one at a time and stir until your brew has turned a golden colour.”

The witch beckons her hand over to a desk, where various items were carefully placed and separated in bowls and bottles, some already used and empty. A small bottle hovers up into the air and floats over to her.

She uncaps the bottle, pouring out the tiny golden seeds inside into her palm, dropping them into the cauldron one by one. After the last one is in and the bottle has floated back to the desk, she starts carefully stirring until the bubbling contents turn golden like the seeds.

Rin smiles in delight. “Alright, looking good so far. Next is…” She glances at the hovering parchment, searching for where she left off. “The crushed strawberries that’s been set in sunlight for six hours.”

A spoon and jar float over to her, it’s red contents sloshing gently around. She opens it, taking three spoonfuls and putting it in the cauldron. It’s colour gradually shifts from gold to peach.

“Still looking good,” she says, glancing between the brew and the recipe to make sure she’s getting it right. Usually, she’s more confident in her potion-making than this.

But this was delicate work. And she couldn’t risk getting it wrong.

“Finally, the last ingredient…” she says, starting to feel nervous, but also excited.

Rin beckons over the only thing on the desk that had contents left, a small, inconspicuous bowl. She grabs the bowl from the air, inside of which had twelve bright red rose petals. They had a few droplets of dew on them, required for the effect she was going for.

Rin snaps her fingers to lower the fire underneath the cauldron, bringing the bubbling down to a mere simmer. The bowl is titled over the cauldron, letting the petals flutter down into the brew. They land softly on the surface.

Slowly, the colour changes to a lovely, rosy pink colour. Rin picks up her spoon again, and carefully stirs up into a curve and down, then up into another curve to the same spot she started. She continue like this, until the colour had changed into a solid colour and the texture turned silky smooth. It started to bubble.

Rin removed the spoon and took a step back. The bubbles all popped at once, pink smoke rising from the cauldron that formed a heart shape before disappearing.

Rin clenched the spoon tightly in her hands, trembling.

Until she threw her arms up into the air with a wide grin.

“I did it!” she cheers. Her hands form into excited fists in front of her. She looks at the cauldron eyes full of delight and anticipation. “Finally, I will…”

She’s interrupted by the chiming of a clock. Looking up, her eyes widen when she sees what time it is. It’s late, way later than she expected it to be.

“Shoot,” Rin says under her breath. She darts around the room, objects starting to fly everywhere.

A bottle finds itself in her hands. She beckons the potion to make its way inside it, the liquid light and clear almost like tea. The lid flies into her other hand and she quickly screws it on, cradling the bottle and it’s precious contents to her chest. She beckons the big cauldron to fly into a storage space high up inside the wall and out of sight.

The last things fly into place on the shelves or in the sink to be washed as Rin hurries out of her workroom. The shop is still empty, thankfully, giving her some precious minutes to prepare. 

On the second floor, there was a normal living area, covered in soft colours and decorations that made you think of winter. It was barely visible from the ground floor, the shop properly separated from the rest of the house.

She hurries up the circling stairs to the second floor, removing her hat and hanging it on a hook on the wall, before hurrying to the kitchen area. Two teacups with floral decorations fly out of the cupboards and land on the kitchen island with a clatter.

“Alright, no more floating, I’m too worked up,” Rin says to herself, carefully placing the bottle in her big pocket. “What next, what next… gah I can’t think straight, why did it take so long?!”

Rin hurriedly takes out two plates with pink edges and two small, delicate forks. She goes over to the fridge, opening it up and revealing the cake she had bought this morning. It was a chocolate cake, with pink frosting poured over, creating a runny look over the sides, revealing the layers of chocolate, vanilla and raspberry. It was topped off with raw raspberries decorating the top. On another shelf there stood a jug of homemade cider.

She’s in the middle of carefully taking both out without having the cake slide off the plate, when the bell hanging over the front door chime, signalling a new arrival. It’s quickly followed by a familiar voice that makes her stomach tingle in excitement.

“Rin? You here?”

“Upstairs!” she calls out, shutting the fridge with her foot. A glance up at the clock reveals her guest is here a bit early.

There’s a tap-tap from someone hurrying up the stairs, and when Rin looks up after placing the cake and jug on the kitchen island, they’re coming up from the winding staircase.

Windswept hair peeks up first, bouncing as the person skip up the stairs. A round, pale face framed by a long lock of dark blue hair and a sun tinted fringe. Blue eyes the colour of a clear summer sky look at her, and a big smile that makes Rin’s heart skip a beat blooms on a sweet face.

“Hi, Rin!”

Rin feels a smile slide onto her face before she realises it. “Hey, Yugo. You’re early.”

Yugo grins proudly. “I finished up quick and hurried over! Just so you wouldn’t say that I was late!”

_‘Was it to come see me faster?’_

Rin waves the thought away and smiles teasingly. “Thank you for your efforts.”

He’s about to answer when blue eyes widen as they finally spot the cake in front of her. “Woooaah! That looks so good!”

Yugo bounces up to the kitchen island, leaning against the counter and looking eagerly at the cake with sparkling eyes. The image of a puppy wagging its tail enter her head and Rin has to hold back a snort.

“I got it this morning,” she says, pushing the cake across the table. “If you can keep your fingers off it, you can have the honour of carrying it out to the balcony.”

“I won’t touch it,” Yugo says with a pout as he picks it up.

“And don’t-” Rin jerks as Yugo stumbles with it, making it hover lightly in his hands until he regains his balance. “Drop it.”

Yugo gives her a sheepish look and smile. “Ahaha, sorry.”

Rin lets out a sigh, sounding fonder than she meant. “Just be careful.”

“I will!”

Rin smiles as she watches Yugo, at a careful pace this time, walks over to the glass doors leading out to the balcony facing the back of her house. When they swing gently open in front of him, he stops and whispers _‘so cool’_ to himself before continuing outside.

Rin laughs quietly to herself, chest warm from the immense affection she was feeling.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out the bottle with the potion, the pink liquid swirling around the glass container. She pulls over one of the teacups, removes the lid and carefully pours the contents into the delicate cup. She shakes the bottle to make sure every last drop gets used, filling about half of it, before placing the bottle aside.

Grabbing the jug of cider, blended with a colouring liquid to turn it light pink, she pours it in the cup so it’s full. After that she fills the other, empty cup with pure cider. Like this, bar a slight shade difference you wouldn’t notice at a glance, the drinks looked identical.

Rin clasps her hands together excitedly. Her pre-planning seems to be turning out perfect.

“Rin? You need any help?” Yugo calls from outside.

“I’m fine! I’ll be there in a second!”

Rin picks up the teacups and walks as quickly as she dares, not wanting to spill a single drop of her day-long work. The plates and cutlery float after her as she walks out to the balcony. The weather was perfect today, a blue sky with but a few fluffy, white clouds slowly floating by above. The sun shone down and warmed the earth enough for you to not need a jacket, only hint of the wind was a small, pleasant breeze going by on occasion.

Yugo is looking longingly at the cake when she steps out, perking up at the sight of her, already sitting down at the table, arms folded on the table. He leans back on his chair and looks on in fascination as the floating items move to settle down in place on the table.

Rin smiles at his expression. After discreetly checking the cups, she puts them down on the table and takes a seat. She finds herself sinking down on the soft cushion, leaning back and letting out a relieved sigh.

“Long day?”

Rin looks over at Yugo, sat on the other side of the table and giving her a sympathetic smile.

She smiles ruefully back. “Just didn’t realise how tired I was, it’s nice with a break.”

Yugo looks alarmed at her. “Wait, you haven’t rested at all today??”

“First time I’m sitting down for a break since I got up from bed,” Rin says, unbothered, going to slice up a piece of cake.

“That’s not good, Rin, you should take better care of yourself,” Yugo says, brow furrowed in concern. “What if you collapse?!”

“I won’t, don’t worry. I’m not that reckless.” Rin puts the piece on Yugo’s plate and puts it in front of him. She gives him a stern look. “Unlike a certain someone else.”

Yugo twitches, looking nervous. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rin shrugs, getting a slice for herself. “Just thinking of the times I had to cure you of magical ailments because you weren’t careful enough with my wares. Or all the times you’ve hurt yourself and I’ve patched you up. Or-”

“Okay, I get it!” Yugo cuts her off, looking miffed. He looks away and pouts. “...I’m still right though.”

Rin slices a bite of cake with her small fork. “Yes, yes, I’ll be careful. Now eat your cake.”

Yugo looks down at his plate like he just realised it had gotten a slice on it. It did the trick in distracting him from the conversation, eyes starting to sparkle as they land on the treat.

Rin hides the smile threatening to break out by taking a bite. It was delicious, the sweet taste of chocolate and vanilla and the tart from the raspberries spreading in her mouth.

“Mmmm this is so good!!”

Yugo’s less inclined to enjoy it in silence though. His whole face is lit up in delight, pink cheeks puffed out from taking too big a bite and smiling as he chews.

Rin can’t quite hold back her snickers, hand covering her mouth. Yugo stills at the sound, pausing as he’s about to eat another piece. He gives her an uncertain look. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” she says, still smiling. She cuts off another piece of her slice and eats it, smiling around the fork. “Just thought you sure eat like it’s really delicious.”

Yugo puts his hovering fork into his mouth, pouting at her as he chews. “It IS good.”

_‘Good, otherwise I’d have to cast a curse on the bakery for selling me a nasty cake for our meet-up.’_

Well, she wouldn’t go that far. Maybe. Just a small one, like make all their eggs turn rotten overnight, or one that kept customers away for a week. You know, something simple.

“That’s good,” she says. “Anything fun happen today?”

Yugo’s face light up, and he launches into a story of how the scale chickens in his neighbourhood got loose after a careless substitute left the hatch to their pen loose. Rin listens as Yugo animatedly recounts the mess they created, getting and into places they shouldn’t be while distractedly eating her cake.

Yugo’s face is like an open book, she could easily tell when he was irritated, confused, happy, trying to remember something, and reading it was always a great joy.

“-and then I found one on the _roof!_ The roof! No clue how it got up there but I almost fell off trying to get it down, couldn’t exactly drop it down for someone to catch, they can flap further than you think-”

Rin sits silently, with a smile on her face, listening to Yugo’s cheerful voice as it changed with his story, occasionally coming to a pause to chew on some cake. How his face shifted openly, like he had nothing to hide, how his smile was so carefree and infectious in its cheerfulness it made her own widen.

“Seems you had a busy day,” she says once Yugo is finished and on his fourth slice of cake. Rin’s only on her second one, too distracted to eat.

Yugo grins, some chocolate left on the corner of his mouth. “It was fun though, and it worked out well! Ah, but how about you? Did something interesting happen?”

Rin doesn’t answer at first, too focused on the smeared chocolate, close to Yugo’s soft lips.

_‘Only because you’re food you get to be there like it’s natural… how unfair.’_

Yugo tilts his head. “Rin-?”

He cuts himself off abruptly when Rin reaches forward and wipes off the sweet mix with the tip of her finger. She pops it in his mouth, the sweet taste hitting her tongue as she licks it clean. Serves you right, chocolate, you don’t have the right to be near those lips.

When she looks up, Yugo seems to have frozen solid in his chair, eyes wide like the plates on the table and mouth hanging open. And to top it off, a lovely red flush covering his cheeks. It’s such an alluring sight Rin wants to sigh in delight. What a wonderful day this is.

“Me?” she says, going back to Yugo’s earlier question. She picks up her cup and takes a small sip of the cider inside. Her eyes meet Yugo’s over it, who appears to have snapped out of his stupor and is listening normally to her, albeit with a slight pink tint to his face. “Oh, nothing special. Just been getting ready for the work week.”

“I-I see,” Yugo says, voice a bit quiet compared to before. He picks up his own cup, pauses when he sees the contents, and Rin holds her breath-

“Is this new?” Yugo looks back at her, nothing accusatory in his gaze, only curiosity and excitement. “It’s pink! And smells kinda sweet!”

Rin discreetly breathes out a sigh in relief, and smiles. “I put in some colouring. I thought it would look cute. And it’s a new blend today, it’s a bit sweeter than usual.”

She licks her lips, a mix of nervousness and excitement starting to show their head, but she keeps her composure. “Try it, it’s good.”

Yugo sniffs curiously at the drink, seemingly enjoying the sweet smell, and Rin worries he’ll suddenly develop the nose for detecting the unique scent potions have, unnoticeable to normal humans. But he doesn’t, and finally puts his lips to the edge of the cup.

Rin watches silently, not breathing and heart beating quick, as Yugo drinks, foregoing a careful sip and goes straight for a big gulp.

His eyes widen, looking down at the pink drink as he draws back. He licks and smacks his lips, before drinking more.

“How is it?” Rin asks, proud of herself for keeping her voice just the right level of curious and not letting her anticipation shine through. “Good?”

Yugo hums, head tilting back to empty the cup. He sets it down with a content sigh. “Yeah, it’s really yummy, but, uh…”

Rin tries to not vibrate out of her chair. “But?”

Yugo’s brow furrows in confusion. His cheeks have turned bright red and his sky blue eyes look hazy, blinking them rapidly as if to clear his vision. He swallows, placing a hand over his chest. “I feel a bit…”

“You okay?” Rin rises to her feet, trying not to sprint over and knock the table over in her haste to get around it.

“Mmm,” Yugo mumbles. He looks up at her. Though his eyes are foggy, they open wide as they land on her, mouth moving as if to speak and Rin holds her breath, waiting, hoping, thinking this was it-

Yugo smiles, a soft and gentle one that made him look like an angel, face still coloured in a lovely rosy redness. A breeze blowing by pulling tenderly at his hair and the sun peeked out from where it had hidden behind a cloud.

“You’re really pretty today, Rin.”

Rin tenses up, cheeks turning pink despite herself and heart skipping a beat. “Ah, thank you…”

She waits, but nothing else happens. Yugo blinks again, rubbing at his chest and tilting his head, looking a bit confused.

“You okay, Yugo?” she carefully asks, hands folded behind her back, folding and unfolding. “Do you… feel anything different?”

“Huh?” Yugo looks at her, the redness having faded and the hazy look in his eyes gone like it had never been there. He looked no different to before, and more importantly, didn’t look _at_ _her_ any differently. “Um, no? Not really. I’m a bit warm, and full.” He smiles and pats his stomach. “That cake was so good.”

“Ah, I… see…”

This time, it’s Yugo who gets up, giving her a worried look. “Are you okay, Rin? You sound a bit distracted.”

“Wha?” She flinches. Rin smiles awkwardly and waves her hand. “No no, I’m fine! Don’t worry, I’m just… a bit tired, I guess.”

Yugo looks at her in worry. “Really? Maybe I should go home for today, so you can rest?”

A part of her shouts ‘no!’ in response, not wanting to cut their time together short. But…

Rin smiles apologetically, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah, I think I need some rest. Sorry about this, Yugo, when you came to hang out and everything…”

Yugo rapidly shakes his head. “It’s fine! I can come again!” He smiles in reassurement. “Next time, I’ll bring something for us to eat, okay?”

Rin smiles and nods. “Sounds good.”

At Yugo’s insistence, he helps her put everything away, even washing up the dishes and shooing her away when she tried to help. Finally, they stand at the front door, Yugo on the steps leading down and Rin by the open door.

“Go sleep right away, okay?” he says, trying to look stern and only looking a bit silly.

Rin rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “Yes yes. Be careful going home.”

They linger, Yugo fidgeting and looking like he wants to say something, and for a second Rin hopes, vainly, that maybe, maybe it had worked after all-

“Then, I’ll come again tomorrow,” Yugo says, stepping down to the dirt path and walking backwards to look at her. “Take care of yourself! No more work today!”

Rin’s smile is a bit forced and tight on her face, but it wasn’t visible to Yugo at this distance. “I will! Don’t trip on your way home!”

“I won’t!” Yugo shouts back, sounding offended.

Rin laughs, waving until he turns around and disappears down the path. Silently, calmly, she steps back inside, closing the door softly. Her house is quiet, save for the echoing sound of the door chime.

Rin draws in a breath…

And gives the door a violent kick, the wood barely holding from the force.

“WHY DIDN’T IT WORK?!” she screams into the empty shop, frustration bleeding into her voice. Her hands run roughly through her hair. “I did everything perfectly! Why didn’t the potion work!?!”

Rin whirls on her heel and stomps to her workroom. She tears through her bookshelf for one book in particular, making it shoot into her hands once she spots it. Rapidly turning the pages, she stops when she finds the page she had copied onto her parchment.

**“** **Love Potion: For That Special Feeling You Want Returned** **”**

She reads through it, pacing around the room as the cauldron she had used earlier comes bumbling out of the cupboard, contents threatening to spill over the floor. She goes over the ingredients, sniffing the brew and tasting it, but finds nothing she missed.

Rin collapse into a chair at her workbench, putting the spellbook on the table. She leans over it, forehead in her hand as she stares at the page like it would tell her what she wanted.

“Were the petals not red enough? The recipe said pink roses for a crush and red for love, so I went for the reddest I could find… Just what went wrong?”

Fingers run through green hair, pulling at them as its owner thinks and thinks. This is not how she had planned this to go, not at all!

“Is it because I added the cider? The recipe said once completed the potion shouldn’t lose its effect, only weaken the more diluted it is. But the cup wasn’t that big…” Rin mumbles to herself, tapping her chin. “I figured diluting it would make the effect not hit as hard, with how heavy the ingredients were, but it didn’t affect Yugo at all!”

Rin throws herself back in her chair, palms digging into her eyes and groaning in frustration. She really thought she had pulled it off! Why didn’t it work? Why weren’t they nestled in a loving embrace right now?!

...Wait a minute.

“Did it really not have any effect?” Rin muses to her ceiling, pursing her lip in thought.

Because she _had_ seen the effects described in the spellbook. Flushed face, eyes turning hazy, slight confusion. She wasn’t sure if his heartbeat started beating faster, but with how he had touched his chest she was pretty sure _something_ had happened there.

And he’d said she was pretty.

Rin turns a bit pink at the memory. Well, if anything, she had gotten that out of today, so it wasn’t a _total_ waste…

But.

Rin frowns bitterly at the ceiling, balancing on the back legs of her chair.

Yugo hadn’t fallen in love with her. Hadn’t jumped into her arms and asked, shyly yet hopefully, if she loved him too. Hadn’t let her kiss him like she so, _so badly_ wanted to. He wasn’t _here_ and not _hers._

And that was a problem.

Because Rin was a witch. And what a witch wanted, a witch got.

And Rin most definitely wanted Yugo, in every way possible.

She clicks her tongue. “Nothing to it.”

Rin sits up properly on her seat, looking down at the spellbook again.

“Just to try again. And I’ll make it work this time.” She cracked her knuckles as an almost menacing smile spread over her face, a fierce determination lit up inside her. “I’ll definitely make you fall in love with me, Yugo.”

* * *

Thus, Rin tried again. This time, being extra careful she had the exact measurements, the highest quality ingredients she could get her hands on, and the reddest, brightest rose petals she could find. Coupled with her experience of already making it once before, it looked even better than her first attempt.

And this time, there was no diluting, no masking it behind cider to make it as inconspicuous as possible. No, this time, she served it as is, telling Yugo it was a new version of that drink he had last time, could he try it again?

Of course, Yugo said yes, with that bright smile that made her warm inside and pulled a smile onto her own face.

So, as they were sharing a plate of cookies Yugo had brought with him, sat on a bench in her garden, she didn’t beat around the bush this time, drinking from her own cup immediately. Yugo quickly followed, and the effect kicked in quicker than before.

His cheeks flushed prettily, his eyes turned foggy, and he had looked at her tenderly…

Only to almost immediately go back to his usual behaviour. No confessions of affection, no loving embrace, he just sat there looking vaguely confused. Rin wanted to scream and tear her hair out, wondering _what the hell she was doing wrong??_

But then Yugo had looked at her with concerned eyes. “Are you alright now, Rin?”

“Huh?” she responds eloquently, trying not to simmer in frustration.

“Well, you were tired last time we met, so… I just wondered if you were okay. You’re not working too hard, right?”

Rin blinks at the genuine sentiment in his voice, warming her chest. The smile that formed on her face felt surprisingly sincere, considering her inner turmoil. Actually, that had calmed down a bit, she realised.

“Thank you, Yugo. I’m… probably working a bit hard, but it’s fine. Just a lot of orders right now.”

Because while Rin had her own mission right now, she was not one to skip on her duties. So she had worked overtime for a while, staying awake later into the night than she probably should.

Yugo frowns. Then, he stands up, putting his cup aside, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along with him further into the garden.

“Wai- Yugo? What’s wrong?” she asks, stumbling after him before finding her footing.

He doesn’t answer, just keeps walking until they reach a grassy spot, next to some lilac bushes. He pulls on her arm and forces her to sit with him, where she’s promptly pushed down to her back onto the grass. Yugo flops onto his back next to her, her wrist still gripped in his hand.

Rin blinks up at the sky in confusion. “Yugo, what are we doing?”

“Resting,” Yugo says matter of factly. “Taking a nap in the sun on the grass feels really good. And you’re gonna do it with me.”

Rin looks at him in bafflement, wondering where this had come from. “But-”

“No buts!” He interrupts, making her jump. Blue eyes are hard and stubborn as he looks at her. “You’re gonna take a break and you’re gonna like it!”

Rin blinks some more, feeling very out of her element over being ordered around like this.

But… the grass was very soft under her. And the weather _was_ very nice, the sun warming her up and the air refreshing as she breathed in and out.

Relaxing into the grass, Rin submitted to her fate. She pretends not to notice the victorious smile on Yugo’s face next to her. Instead, she moves her hand to grab onto the one wrapped around her wrist.

Yugo jumps next to her. She can feel his eyes glancing rapidly at her, and she resisted the urge to look back and see what kind of face he was making. It was without a doubt a very cute one.

Rin closes her eyes with a content sigh. Slowly, hesitantly, the hand in hers squeezes back, so she intertwines their fingers with a small smile.

She would definitely, without fail, make a successful love potion.

* * *

With her first choice proving to be ineffective, Rin turned to other potions. She had chosen the first one because the effects best fit what she wanted, and she had liked how you could choose the intensity of affection with the rose petals colour.

But since it seemed to not work on Yugo, she scoured all other love potion recipes she could find. She didn’t want to rely on spells with her wand. They were too flimsy, too short-lasting, so easy to get wrong. No, a potion would be best.

And so, Rin’s journey to find one that worked began. They were generally made with the same ingredients, but with some interesting replacements for other items. Some required to be baked into something edible, some were to be drunk. She discarded any that needed to be injected, that felt way too skeevy, and the effects sounded way too extreme.

Her mailbox being flooded with trash mail for love spells and potions commercials were a small price to pay if it made Yugo throw himself at her. Just had to make sure she burned all of them less he stumbled upon them.

“What are these?”

Yugo’s eyes are wide in curiosity, laid down on the table to stare at the sweets lined up on a cake plate.

“They’re called cupcakes,” Rin answers, smiling. “I’ve never made them before, but it seemed interesting and it was something we’ve never eaten, so I tried it out.”

_‘It was also the only shape this potion could be made into. God what a pain, it better work.’_

Because Rin had worked damn hard in making these look good. Making the cakes soft and not dry, getting the frosting the right mix between firm and soft so it kept its whirly shape. It was a pain, but like this, colourful and with little snowflake sprinkles on them, they looked quite nice.

The recipe for it was slightly different this time around. Five pink petals in the shape of hearts, for pure affection. Whole peach flowers that announce the arrival of spring, for a feeling like a maiden’s first love. If you didn’t eat both the chocolate cake and the frosting together, it won’t work as it should.

“Rin made these?!” Yugo asks, looking wide-eyed between her and the sweets. He smiles brightly. “That’s amasing!”

She’s almost embarrassed over how impressed he looks, but allows herself to soak it up just a little. Yeah, she had worked hard on them, she deserved a bit of recognition.

Rin coughs into her hand before picking up one of the treats. “We don’t know if it’s good or not yet though.”

“It looks really good!” Yugo says, picking up a large one that had a particularly big amount of frosting and sprinkles.

Jackpot. She knew he’d go for the big one.

They peel off the wrapping and puts it aside. Rin carefully takes a bite out of hers, while Yugo opens his mouth as wide as it can go and shoves almost half of it inside before biting down.

Rin sweatdrops as she chews, wondering if Yugo thought the food was going to run away if he didn’t eat quickly.

Then she remembered he had grown up in a poor orphanage where food wasn’t always enough to go for everyone and immediately felt like a scumbag.

“There’s a lot, so eat as much as you want,” she says, trying to shake away the pessimism. Yugo didn’t want her sympathy, and it’s not like Rin hadn’t grown up in a shithole either. She just got out by becoming an apprentice witch.

“Really?!” Yugo looks at her with almost glowing eyes, pink frosting on the corners of his mouth. “Thanks, Rin! This is really good!”

Rin hides a smile by taking another bite. “I made it a bit less sweet, so it won’t rot our teeth out.”

Yugo’s hum is the only indication he heard her, busy stuffing his face with the other half of his cupcake.

Rin raises an eyebrow. “Don’t choke now.”

“I won’t.”

“And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Yugo pouts at her, but does swallow before talking. “I know already, don’t nag so much.”

Rin splutters. “Don’t give me a reason then! Seriously…”

Yugo huffs, then pauses. He swallows, takes a deep breath and shakily lets it out, blinking sluggishly as his cheeks blush pink like the cupcake frosting.

Rin’s eyes widen. She had almost completely forgotten about the brew! She puts her chin in her hands, tapping her fingers against her cheeks in definitely not nervosity. “Something up?”

Yugo mutters, shaking his head. Rin holds her breath, wondering if it had worked…

Yugo lets out a loud sneeze behind his hands and Rin almost jumps two feet in the air. He roughly shakes his head before looking up at her, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and smiling. His cheeks were still a bit pink… but it looked to be mostly from embarrassment.

“Ahaha, sorry, dunno where that came from.”

Rin stares, feeling a bit gobsmacked. “Ah, it’s okay. You covered your mouth, so don’t worry about it.”

Yugo looks miffed. “I always do that when there’s food around!”

“You should always do it!”

She needed a new plan.

* * *

Rin felt like she was loosing her goddamn mind.

Nothing was working. Nothing. Was. _Working._

Drinks. Food. Potions consumed directly. She must have gone through at least twenty recipes by now, with some general standards in place less she makes some garbage or hack potion.

Before long she started to grow desperate, started trying potions with effect descriptions that didn’t quite fit what she wanted. But she figured she could work with it, so long as Yugo became only hers. She had used all kinds of ingredients she’d never used before, and _yet,_ _nothing was sticking_.

Why weren’t they working?? She could see the beginning of the effects, see it begin to work, yet Yugo always went right back to normal within barely a minute.

Rin was at the ends of her patience and starting to just get flat out frustrated. By this point, anything would be fine, so long as it _worked_ and let her kiss the stupid idiot who was apparently immune to love potions.

Yugo was coming over today. Rin’s shop was closed, and the rest of the day was going to be just them. The weather outside was cloudy, it looked like it might start raining soon, and it was looking like a perfect day to stay inside, curled up on the couch. Particularly in her glass room where the ceiling and walls were all windows and you could hear the rain smattering against the glass. Rin wanted to curl up on the big couch in there with Yugo and talk with him, cuddle, and… other things.

If the potion didn’t work this time and made Yugo lovestruck for her, she might just scream.

Rin stares down at the cauldron with almost vicious eyes, as if daring it to fail this time. Her brews had never looked wrong so far until now, always looked just like the recipe said it should, yet they never worked properly anyway.

Rin beckoned her hand so a delicate bottle floated towards her. She removed the round top, a pleasant scent wafting from the bottle. Carefully, she tips it over, small drops dripping out that started hovering before it fell down into the brew.

“Nine drops of rose oil for passion, all added at once” Rin recites the recipe, directing the small droplets into the cauldron in a circle.

She waits until they spread out before stirring within the circle they made. When the colour has turned into a rosy gold, she reads the next step.

A bowl full of white, small flowers floats into her waiting hands. After another read-through, she turns the bowl upside down over the cauldron, letting the flowers fall in.

“Elderberry flowers for long-lasting and thorough effect.” The flowers slowly sink down to the bottom and Rin stirs so they don’t burn. Once it starts bubbling, Rin steps away. She watches how the bubbles grow bigger and bigger, despite the heat being the same. And all at once, they burst into small heart shapes, leaving the surface glossy even as it softly simmered.

Rin slowly lets out a sigh. “So far, so good.”

It looked as described, the proper reaction had happened. Now just one thing left.

Rin walks over to her workbench, picking up a bowl and carrying it over to the cauldron.

“It said adding something for taste is recommended, like chocolate or berries or wine.” She looks down at the bowl filled with block chocolate in her hands. “This should be good, since Yugo likes chocolate. And it gave a maximum weight for added ingredients so nothing gets messed up.”

Rin breaks the chocolate into pieces over the cauldron, the treats quickly sinking and melting in the warm contents. After the bowl is empty, Rin begins resolutely stirring once more.

Once she’s satisfied, she puts away her spoon and looks it over. Like this, it almost looked like hot chocolate.

A familiar chime reaches her ears, followed by hurried rustling and a door slamming shut.

“Kaaaahh!! It sure is coming down.” Yugo’s familiar voice says, muffled behind the closed door to her workroom. “Rin? Where are you?”

Rin leaves her cauldron on a low heat and hurries to the door. When she opens it up, the first thing she spots is Yugo, standing by her front door and shaking his wet hair.

The next thing she sees is that he’s completely drenched. And then the heavy smattering of a downpour outside registers in her ears.

“Yugo, what the fuck?!”

He jumps hard and whirls to her with eyes wide in surprise. “Oh! There you are, Rin. Were you- uwah!”

Yugo didn’t get to finish his sentence, for Rin had rushed forward, a fluffy towel having flown into her hand from the bathroom and was now roughly rubbing his hair dry.

“What the hell are you doing walking around outside in this heavy rain?! Do you want to get sick?!”

“It started while I was walking here and I didn’t have an umbrella or anything!” he hurriedly defends himself, face half-covered by the towel. “I’m fine, I don’t get sick that easy.”

“And what if you trip in the mud on the way here? I know there’s a lot of steep hills around here, if you fell down one in this weather no one would hear you!”

“Rin, you worry too much,” Yugo says with a laugh. The blue sky peek out when a pale hand rise up to move away the towel from in front of its eyes. Yugo smiles, eyes twinkling. “And if I fell down somewhere, Rin would come looking for me, right?”

Rin frowns in exasperation, even as a pink tint finds itself on her cheeks. She sighs, giving his hair a last aggressive rub and making him yelp. She pulled the towel down from on top of his head to the sides, cradling his head and face through it. “Of course I would, you big dummy.”

Yugo laughs happily. His hair was so tousled it barely resembled his normal hairstyle, messy and tumbled around from her rough drying..

It was so cute Rin had to tear her eyes away to keep herself from kissing him. Yugo’s cheeks turn slightly red, until he looks down at the floor.

“Shit.” He steps back in concern, Rin looking at him in confusion. He gives her a guilty look. “Sorry, I got mud all over your floor…”

Rin looks down, seeing that, in fact, her once pristine floor was covered in muddy footprints from Yugo’s equally muddy boots. With the rain outside, she wasn’t too surprised to see it, but Yugo looked really ashamed over it.

She scoffs in indifference, turning on her heel to walk further in. “Don’t worry so much about it, you’re more important.” She misses how Yugo’s face flares up at her words. A hand waves him in. “Take off your shoes at the steps and get in here. I’ll go get you some new clothes so you can change.”

“O-okay,” Yugo says behind her, fumbling to take off his shoes and not step in the pools of water gathering around him on the floor. Rin jogs up the stairs and hurries to her bedroom. She digs through her dresser, looking for something Yugo could wear. They were about the same size and height, though Rin was slightly taller, so it shouldn’t be any-

Rin spots one item of clothing. And finds she simply can’t resist.

Once Rin returns, Yugo is still waiting in the shop area, starting to shiver in his wet clothes. She stops halfway down the stairs instead of going all the way down. “Come on, get up here. You’re going straight into the shower.”

“I already took a shower today,” Yugo says petulantly in response, but does climb up the stairs and after her.

Rin rolls her eyes. “The water will warm you up. If you stay like this you’re gonna shiver for hours.”

Yugo pouts as he silently follows her to the bathroom. He takes the clothes Rin thrust out at him without really looking at them as she turns on the shower to a warm temperature.

“Towels are in there,” she says, pointing to a mint green cupboard in the corner.” I’ll wait in the living room, so just shout if you need anything.”

“Yeees,” Yugo says, still sulking a bit. Rin rolls her eyes fondly, reaching forward to pinch his nose between her thumb and forefinger. He yelps as she pulls him forward.

“Just stay in there long enough to get warm,” she says, leaning forward a little herself. “Can you do that for me? Please?”

Yugo blinks wide-eyed at her, mouth open to breathe with his nose blocked by her fingers. He blushes, and nods once with a mumbles ‘yes’.

Rin smiles and let’s go of his nose, Yugo shielding it with his hand. “Good.”

With that, Rin steps out of the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. Rotating her shoulders with a groan, she walks out to the bigger area. “Really, he can be such a handful sometimes.”

Rin is almost disgusted at the smile she feels forming on her face and how affectionate she bet it looked. She definitely couldn’t let her witch sisters see her like this, enamoured and doting on someone who didn’t even return it. They’d never let her live it down.

It’s then that she remembers the cauldron downstairs.

Rin almost sprints over to the kitchen, taking out a small pot and all the ingredients needed for hot chocolate. She prepared it at record speed, getting the contents going, and takes one mug with her as she hurries down the stairs. But not so fast that Yugo could wonder if something is wrong.

Tearing into her workroom, the floor cold against her socked feet, Rin hurries in and starts pouring the potion into the mug. She considers leaving some space for pouring in some actual hot chocolate, but discards it. She didn’t know whether that was a cause for all her love potions failing, but she wasn’t willing to take any chances anymore.

Ascending the stairs as quickly as she dares without spilling. She puts the mug on the counter, leaving a small spell to keep the porcelain and the drink inside warm, and goes over the pot.

It doesn’t take long before the shower stops, and Yugo calls out to her from inside the bathroom. “Uh, Rin?”

“Yeah?” she says, not looking away from the stove.

“Um, are you sure you got the right clothes?”

Rin almost drops her utensil. Oh.

“I’m very sure, Yugo,” she says, fighting to keep her rising giddiness from showing in her voice.

There’s silence for a while, Rin feeling antsy as she waits. Finally, the bathroom door clicks open and the sound of Yugo shuffling can be heard. Rin casually looks over her shoulder, and can just barely keep the overly pleased smile off her face.

Yugo looks less happy. Not uncomfortable, thank goodness, more embarrassed, red blush covering his cheeks and hands tugging at the powder pink hoodie he was wearing. It was a bit longer than normal ones, going down to his thighs, with a blue, embroidered heart over the chest. The pyjama pants she’d given him were blue, with white dots on them.

Rin has to bite her lower lip to keep her delighted smile from turning too wide. “Comfy?”

Yugo squirms, looking peeved at her reaction. “...Maybe.”

Rin giggles, making him pout at her. She pours a small drip into Yugo’s now very full mug before moving on to her own. “Come here, I made something warm to drink.”

That makes him perk up, pattering over curiously. Yugo peers over her shoulder, eyes widening and sparkling when he sees what she’s pouring.

“Hot chocolate,” he whispers excitedly, almost bouncing in place. Rin smiles, handing over Yugo’s mug before taking her own, pot floating on over into the sink.

They walk over to sit down on her couch, the rain still pouring outside. Yugo sniffs happily at his mug, fingers wrapped around it as if he was trying to absorb its warmth.

Rin sips from her own mug, facing forward and trying to look nonchalant despite her nerves. She watches out of the corner of her eye as Yugo takes a big gulp, and then another. He lowers it first when over half of it is gone, licking his lips and looking content like a cat laying near a heater.

She taps her fingers against her mug, mood sinking when it looks like this one too will be a failure. But she hasn’t even seen a reaction yet, so maybe…

Yugo drinks the rest from his mug, letting out a pleased sigh as it lowers to rest on his lap. He sways a little, brow furrowing in confusion as he blinks sluggishly.

“...Yugo?” Rin tries, hoping against hope. “You alright? Getting sleepy?”

She half-expected him to let out a jaw-cracking yawn and maybe even flop over on her comfy couch for a nap. She frowns in light concern as his face gradually turns redder and redder. Slowly he turns to face her-

And a goofy smile spreads across his face, a giggle spilling out of him, which makes Rin raise an eyebrow. He starts to fidget, small giggles escaping him seemingly without him noticing.

Rin jumps as she suddenly fills her arms full of a weirdly giggly Yugo, barely keeping her mug from spilling its contents, while his own clatter to the floor.

“Rin~” he says giddily into her chest, smile still wide on his face. He looks up at her, blue eyes hazy and almost fogged over. “Hi~”

“Hi…” Rin says hesitantly, not sure how to deal with this sudden development. Was this how the effect was supposed to look? She hadn’t quite read over what to look for properly, now that she thought of it…

Yugo nuzzles into her chest, just above her breasts. “Rin smells so nice… you always do…”

Rin hurriedly puts her mug on the table and awkwardly wraps her arms around Yugo as he almost slides off the couch from how slack he suddenly is. Some part of her is happy over the compliment though. “Thank you?”

Yugo giggles again. “You’re being silly~ That kinda Rin is cute too, though…”

She blinks, feeling like she was standing on ice and trying to stand steady with no skates or spiked shoes. The compliments weren’t… bad, just odd. Usually, when Yugo paid her a compliment about her looks or such, it was stuttered out slowly.

“Yugo, are- are you okay?”

Something about this felt way too odd.

“Hmm?” He tilts his head up to look at her, his expression almost dreamy. “I’m fine~ It’s a bit hot though…”

Rin grabs his shoulders and forces him to sit up and look at her properly. “Hot how?”

Yugo’s brow furrow and eyes closing as he thinks. His body tries to sway, but her hands keep him steady. When his eyes slide open and look at her again, Rin goes still when she sees a hint of longing in his gaze. A shade different from normal romantic longing.

“My body… is hot…” His hand reach up to grasp at her arms, head lolling to the side as an almost shy smile appears on his bright red face. “Can you fix it, Rin…? I want you to…”

Oh fuck.

Rin is frozen, her arms slacking enough for Yugo to lean forward again, his arms draping over her shoulders. Their noses brush and Rin can count his eyelashes from how close they were. She just had to tilt her head slightly and lean in mere centimetres more and their lips would touch.

Yugo giggles again. His voice sounds a bit husky and words slightly slurred. “Rin is so smart and cool, so you know what to do, right…?”

Oh _fuck._

“Sorry!” Rin says loudly, flying to her feet, making Yugo fall onto the sofa with a grunt. He looks up at her with a dejected look, staying in his sprawled position. “Riiin? Where are you going…?”

“Stay there!” she loudly demands, pointing a finger at his slumped form. “Right there! Don’t move an inch until I get back!”

She doesn’t stick around to hear a response, whirling on her heel and dashing for the ground floor. The stairs are taken in record time and she’s tearing into her workroom like a madwoman. She tears through her bookshelf, books flying everywhere once she discards them as not what she’s looking for. Once she finally spots it, she yanks it out and tears through the pages, frantically looking for the page she had copied the potion from.

After what felt like ages, she finally finds it.

**“** **Lovey-Dovey Passion Potion** **”**

Rin frantically reads through the paragraphs, once again irritated over how damn rambly they were. It’s why she had skipped over them, spotting the ingredients and skimming through enough to deduce it was a love potion.

Clearly, something was wrong. And she didn’t find it until she got to the last paragraph.

**“Once done, feel free to feed it to your consenting partner~ Not only increasing both desire and pleasure, it makes the consumer into a whimsical sweetheart, all in one neat package~ Be responsible when using it though! It’s more effective when cooked into food or drinks, so keep that in mind. Hope you and your partner/s enjoy it~”**

The book slips out of Rin’s trembling hands, hitting the floor with a loud bang.

She had an inkling, with Yugo’s behaviour, but having it confirmed just made it worse.

“Fuck.”

Rin had made and fed Yugo what was essentially aphrodisiacs.

Hands clench tightly into shaking fists as Rin feels both panic and anger rise like a tidal wave inside her. It’s the anger that wins the tug of war for relevance.

“DON’T SAVE THAT FOR THE END!!!” She ends up screaming at the dropped book. “THE HELL KIND OF WITCH LEAVES THAT KIND OF INFORMATION FOR THE END!?! ARE YOU STUPID?!”

She was furious. Enraged. She had fed her best friend and secret love sex drugs without knowing and it was all this stupid, confusing recipes fault. How the fuck was she supposed to fix this??!

She freezes when suddenly a pair of arms wrap around her waist. She hadn’t even heard anyone come in.

“I found Rin~” Yugo says happily behind her, nuzzling into her back. His arms tighten around her as his voice goes from happy to downcast. “Don’t leave so suddenly again… stay with me…”

God _fucking_ dammit this would have made her the happiest witch on the whole damn green earth if it wasn’t for the circumstances.

“Sorry about that. I uh, needed to look something up,” she awkwardly says, trying to not think too hard about the warmth radiating off Yugo and seeping through her clothes. “Didn’t I tell you to wait upstairs?”

Yugo whines behind her, face snuggling into her back and pressing tightly against her. “But it’s cold up there…”

“Didn’t you just say earlier that you were warm?” Rin asks, firmly keeping her eyes straight ahead.

A noncommittal hum was her only answer as Yugo leans his weight against her, cheek rubbing against her shoulder.

Shit, what the hell does she do now? She’s never worked with aphrodisiacs before. What do you even do to get rid of the effects? Or do you just wait it out? She’s heard they can last for hours-

“Rin~” Yugo says, stumblingly circling around to stand in front of her, half-lidded eyes glassy and blush still firmly in place. He tugs at her clothes with a sloping smile. “Hey… can you touch me? I want Rin to touch me lots and lots~”

Rin wasn’t sure she could last that long.

Breathing in through her teeth, she grabs Yugo’s wrists and removes his hands from her, pushing him away. Be strong, she tells herself, you have to be strong.

“Yugo,” she says, trying to make her voice as stern as possible. “You’re not acting like yourself right now. You don’t really understand what you’re saying.”

Yugo pouts. “I so know, I want Rin to hold me.”

Rin has to bite down hard on her tongue to keep herself from loudly cursing to the heavens. Why oh why does the world hate her?

“That’s not you thinking that. Okay it kinda is, but you’re not completely clear in the head, and it’s not your fault, so-”

Yugo seems to have grown tired of her rambling, squirming until he steps back from her hands, making her lose her hold on him. Then he suddenly flings his body forward with all the force he can manage in his woozy state. It’s enough to knock Rin back, off her feet and land on the floor on her butt.

Rin hisses as pain shoots up her spine, only to abruptly freeze up as she notices their new position.

“You talk so much, Rin~” Yugo says merrily where he was now seated on her lap. His arms hang over her shoulders as he sways inches from her face. Rin’s hand hover in the air, debating whether touching him would improve or worsen the situation.

“Well, sorry for that,” she says, feeling too frazzled to be offended. Yugo being so close and his cute behind sat on her lap was messing with her ability to think.

“Rin~ Let’s kiss~”

She takes about a second too long to react to that and doesn’t manage to get a word out before Yugo is leaning in, lips puckered and eyes closed.

He doesn’t meet her mouth however, but the palm of her hands that she had just gotten up to shield her lips.

No matter how much she wanted to kiss Yugo(and oh boy was it _a lot_ ), she definitely didn’t want their first kiss to happen like this.

Yugo looks sulkily at them, pouting and not at all helping her self-control. He tugs sullenly at her arms in an attempt to make her drop her protective shield. “Riiiin, you stingy!”

_‘Trust me I’m dying right now.’_

Rin moves her hands, but before Yugo can get any ideas, she puts over his mouth and the other hand grabbing his shoulder to keep him at a distance. “Yugo, please stop that. You’re not thinking straight.”

Yugo pouts sullenly, which she only knows because she can feel his lips against her palm and _focus._ This Yugo is so weirdly forward and almost drunk in his behaviour and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. It probably wasn’t even because he liked her, and it was just the aphrodisiacs doing their work. Anyone would do.

Which is also why she can’t just kick him out, even if it wasn’t raining outside. If anyone ran into him like this… it made her stomach turn.

No, she needed to fix this.

Rin jumps and almost yells when something wet touches her palm.

Yugo’s eyes are closed, hands now holding onto the one covering his mouth, kissing and licking the skin. Rin shivers as she feels his soft lips press against her palm and his hot, wet tongue run over her skin as best as it can. Without meaning to, her grip slacks.

Yugo doesn’t immediately dart forward to try and kiss her lips again. Instead, he moves Rin’s hand down so he can press his lips against the tip of her fingers. Blue eyes crack open halfway to meet hers as Yugo slowly takes one of her fingers into his warm mouth. He softly sucks at it and Rin has to suppress a noise, her hand still on his shoulder tightening its grip.

Yugo’s cheeks are still flushed red, with his lips wrapped around her finger and occasionally opening to lick at its sides, it made for a very suggestive view. She felt him shift on her lap, then how he tries to clumsily push down with his hips, and Rin feels she might just combust on the spot. Or pin Yugo to the floor and kiss him senseless and tease him until he’s begging for release.

She doesn’t though. Instead, she pulls her wet hand away and pushes him away to arms-length away, gritting her teeth together hard.

“Yugo, stop that! You’re not acting like yourself!”

“Then how am I supposed to act?” Yugo whines, uselessly reaching out for her even as he’s being held back. “Tell me, Rin~”

“Like-” Rin cuts herself off before she can finish her sentence.

Like normal.

Like the usual Yugo. Who didn’t do stuff like this.

But isn’t this exactly what she wanted? Yugo throwing himself at her, close to begging to let him kiss her and touch her. Wasn’t this situation, with Yugo sat on her lap and wanting for something more, more intimate. Loudly wanting her and her touch, her kisses, coming to her by himself when she didn’t act.

The realisation hits her fullfront, only to then sink heavily along with her stomach and settle like a boulder at the bottom.

This isn’t what she wanted.

She didn’t want this affected, whimsy and needy for no reason of his own Yugo. She wanted the Yugo she had known for years now. Who had started out as just a customer who often came to browse and somehow caused a shelf full of potions to crash to the ground, and yet became her best friend despite of it. The one who she shared snacks with at least once a week, who she could talk with for hours on end and never tire of his company.

She wanted Yugo. Sweet, cheerful, short-tempered, always well-meaning but not always succeeding Yugo, who looked out for her in more ways than he realised. She couldn’t imagine her life without him at her side anymore.

And it scared her. How much she treasured him, his company, his wonderful smile. The thought of him going away, falling for someone else and going off to be happy with them and leaving her behind. It scared her more than she wanted to admit. Yugo slipping away from her grasp. Not returning the feelings that had started to bud ages ago, but that she had only recently let fully bloom and accept.

Because deep down, she didn’t think anyone would love her like that. Rin was a witch, she was cold, had a mean face, disliked working with others, liked her own company, had a sadistic streak and didn’t have many friends. And that was fine to her, she had accepted all of that and more long ago.

But Yugo had a way of making her walls come down. Maybe that was why it took so long to accept her love for him.

She wanted his genuine affections, his pure love. Not because of a potion made to make him love her. Not because of magic, but because he genuinely loved her and wanted to be with her.

But she had been too afraid to try without magic.

Rin wraps her arms around Yugo, hugging him tightly to her. Tears sting her eyes that she refused to let fall, even with her face hidden from view.

“I’m sorry, Yugo.”

Yugo makes a confused noise. He’s stopped squirming so much, isn’t trying to kiss her or snuggle, as if sensing something in her mood has changed.

Rin runs her hand up and down his back, trying to memorize his scent and how he felt in her arms.

It might very well be the last time she gets to have him like this, after all.

“Rin, wha…”

Yugo trails off, eyes sliding shut as his body turn slack and he slumps against her as her sleeping spell takes effect.

Rin silently stands up, carrying Yugo in her arms out to the shop and upstairs, carefully laying him down on the couch. She pets his hair, brushing his bangs away from his eyes and relaxed face. A small smile tugs at her lips, but there’s a sad tint to it.

  
  


She couldn’t blame this on the recipe being too rambly or unclear. She was the one who hadn’t read it properly, such a novice mistake she should have her witch status revoked and made into an apprentice again. It was _her_ who had made it, her who had filled the mug and handed it to Yugo, with a very clear intent in mind. It just hadn’t matched up with the fantasy in her head. This was her fault, no one else’s.

“I’ll fix this, I promise,” she says to his sleeping figure before turning away and going back to her workroom.

Rin scours her books and available ingredients as she prepares a fresh cauldron. Black cat plant seeds, roots from a citrus tree, ground down and diluted mushrooms for removing effects of potions and spells.

She works quickly, and before long, a green, sludge-like substance bubbled in her cauldron, her impromptu fix complete and ready. Hopefully, it would work.

Rin scoops it up into a glass and hurries upstairs. Yugo is still sleeping soundly, chest slowly moving up and down. She kneels down, and find herself coming to a pause, placing the glass on the floor next to her.

She was going to tell him, she had decided that deep down the moment she realised how awful her actions had been. She was going to tell him how she had been feeding him love potions for months, and now finally this, mistake it may have been.

He might hate her. Might never want to see her again. She certainly wouldn’t want to, would never trust someone like her ever again. And it hurt like a knife to the chest. The exact thing she had been afraid of happening, was going to happen, and it was all her own fault. For thinking she would be happy with a Yugo who only loved her because of magic, for thinking that would be fair to him.

Rin bites her lip, refusing to cry. This was her fault, she was going to suck it up and take responsibility. All the way until Yugo was out of her door and her life, then she could collapse on the floor and cry all she wanted over her lost first love. Ruined by her own stupidity.

Yugo’s eyelashes flutter and he snorts quietly in his sleep. Rin smiles a watery smile.

It might be the last time she’ll get to see him like this.

“God I’m being too dramatic,” she says, wiping her eyes. She didn’t want Yugo to see her crying.

Deciding to be indulgent one last time, despite not deserving it, Rin presses her lips to his forehead as she breaks the sleeping spell. He murmurs.

She pulls back and lifts Yugo up with her arm. She picks up the glass from the floor next to her and presses it to his lips, urging him to drink.

He does, with an expected grimace, as it probably didn’t taste very good. Once half of the contents were gone and the flush covering Yugo’s cheeks were gone did she put it away and lay him down again.

Yugo’s eyes flutter open, staring blankly at the ceiling for a while. His head turns to her, blinking to clear his vision. No sign of the want and heat from before remain in his gaze. “Rin?”

She smiles, trying not to let her feelings show up. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah…” he says, rising to a sitting position while rubbing his head. “What happened? My head is so… hazy.”

“Yeah, that’s… actually my fault.” Yugo look at her in confusion as she stands up and steps back, right hand holding onto her left arm. “You know that hot chocolate I gave you?”

Yugo nods, still looking confused as he stumbles to his feet. “Yeah. It was really good.”

Rin winces, finding she can’t quite meet Yugo’s open eyes, looking straight at her with such trust she felt ashamed.

“It wasn’t actually hot chocolate.” Amber eyes look hesitantly into sky blue, the face they sat on twisted into a guilty expression. “It was aphrodisiacs. Basically, sex drive enhancing substance.”

Yugo stares at her in silence, wide-eyed and looking like he was processing her words. Rin couldn’t look into them anymore, gaze falling to the floor instead.

“...Ah.”

Rin reluctantly looks back at Yugo at the first hint of a reaction. What she sees isn’t exactly whats she expects though.

Yugo’s mouth is hanging open, quivering along with the rest of his body as his face is flushed bright red all the way to his ears in clear, obvious embarrassment. His body is so tense she thinks he might snap like a violin string.

“Aaahh!!” he suddenly yells out in anguish, burying his face in his hands as he shakes his head. “Why did I- oh GOD what the HELL was I DOING?!”

Rin blinks in confusion at Yugo’s reaction. If anything those words should be directed at her, not at himself-

Wait.

Rin flushes a bit pink. “Yugo, do you…”

“I remember,” he says, sounding full of misery and embarrassment “I-I remember all of it now-SHIT!”

Rin wasn’t sure how to comfort him, hesitant to touch him. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I know you weren’t thinking straight…”

“That doesn’t matter!!” he wails, hands finally falling away from his face. Tears of embarrassment have gathered at the corner of his eyes, face crimson red. “I did such embarrassing things!! And the stuff I said too, gaaahhh!!”

His hands run roughly through his hair as he wails. Rin feels bad, this was her fault after all. And she didn’t even feel comfortable to comfort him as she wanted.

“Are you feeling okay now?” she asks instead, changing the subject somewhat. “I made a potion to hopefully remove the effects, but I don’t know how well it did.”

Yugo pauses at her question, shifting and looking up at the ceiling in thought. “I feel fine? Not like how I did before, that’s for sure. Not all… hot and restless.”

He rubs his arms and grimaces and Rin feels worse.

Yugo then smiles apologetically, blushing a little. “Uh, sorry for being all weird and pushy. Thanks for getting rid of it! Rin really is amasing!”

Rin doesn’t deserve the grateful smile he gives her. _‘I have to tell him, before I chicken out.’_

“...I’m really not.” Yugo looks at her in confusion. “I’m not amasing, or nice, or a good person. Fuck, I’m really sorry, Yugo.”

Yugo turns a little panicked at the tone in her voice as a hand goes up to run a hand roughly through her hair. He waves his hands in front of him. “Woah woah hold on, Rin! It’s not your fault, it was a mistake, right? I’m not mad at all!”

God he was too nice, she didn’t deserve him at all and yet she wanted him so badly still.

“It wasn’t really a mistake.”

Yugo freezes at her words. “What do you mean…?”

Looking at him was painful, so Rin looks away, over to the big window next to them, looking out at the forest without really seeing it.

“I was trying to feed you a love potion. But I was too careless and impatient and didn’t read the description properly, and look what happened as a result.” Her hands clench at her sides, the words heavy in her mouth but she forced herself to keep going.

“I’ve been doing it for months now. Feeding you love potion after love potion, but they all failed. None of them worked, but I never stopped trying.” Rin bites her lip, guilt clawing at her. She forces herself to look Yugo in the eyes for her next words. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it, and I’m really, really sorry.”

Rin expected Yugo to get angry any second now, yell at her, say he hates her and to stay away and then walk away, out of her house.

But he doesn’t. He just stands there, staring wide-eyed at her with an unreadable expression, mouth slacked open. The first words he gets out isn’t what she expects either.

“W-why would you…” he swallows, trying to find the right words. “Why… l-love potions?”

“‘Why’...” Rin repeats in incredulity. Did he not get it? Was she going to have to say it out loud?

Scary, but it seemed like a weirdly appealing idea too. Get these feelings off her chest when she still had the chance.

“Because I _love you_ !” she says louder and in a fiercer voice than she meant to. But she couldn’t stop now that the floodgates have opened. “Because I want to keep you to myself! Because I want to see your smile every day! Because I don’t want to wave goodbye every time you come here and the time comes when you have to go home! Because I want you to be _mine!_ ”

Rin’s panting slightly when she stops. Her confession hangs heavy in the air and ensuing silence, but it felt good to finally say it.

Yugo remains silent, seemingly stunned and gobsmacked, face bright red.

“So I decided to make a love potion to make you fall in love with me,” she continues after a moment. She laughs deprecatingly. “But I must really suck at it, because _none_ of them worked. I tried so many types too.”

Yugo still hasn’t said anything, so she continues. She’s rambling by now, no doubt, but it was all to hide her anxiousness, in even a weak attempt to keep him in her presence a little longer. But knowing it was going to end made her want to get it over with.

“I understand if you… don’t want to see me anymore, with what I’ve done. I won’t chase after you, or bother you, I promise. So-”

“Rin!!!”

Rin startles into silence, looking surprised at Yugo at his outburst. He’s panting slightly, looking to have struggled to get her name out at all.

“I!” he tries, voice loud, fighting to get even a single word out. His fists are clenched so tight his nails must be digging into his palms. He clenches his eyes shut, bites hard on his lip before finally looking at her again and-

“I LOVE YOU!!!”

Yugo’s scream echoes in her silent house. It hangs heavy, together with Rin’s confession, said just mere minutes earlier.

Rin can do nothing than stare in shock at Yugo, the words not seeming to be registering, even as they rang in her ears like her beloved bells and chimes.

Yugo flinches, like he just now realised what he had said, covering his mouth with his hands.

“I-I said it…” he mumbles in disbelief to himself. Then, he smiles slightly goofily. “I really said it.”

“You… what?” Rin tries, still trying to wrap her head around this all.

“I love you!” Yugo repeats, looking so happy to be saying it he could be glowing. His eyes shift down to the floor, starting to fiddle with his fingers. “I have for a really long time. Probably ever since I first saw you. I kept coming back as an excuse to see you, so when we became friends, I was really, really happy!”

He smooths his shirt out, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “I was okay just being close to you, I never thought I’d even get that close, just talking to you was a hurdle. And I didn’t want to bother you too much while you worked. But as we became better friends, I just kinda… fell more and more in love with you. But I didn’t think you’d love me back, but it was _so much…_ ”

Yugo trails off, flushing red and gripping his shirt over his chest, a fond yet loving expression on his face that just about made Rin’s heart stop.

“You… you love me too?” Rin repeats, feeling dumb but _needing_ to be sure she had heard him right, that she wasn’t misunderstanding anything. “Even now? After knowing what I did?”

Yugo nods vigorously, hand to his chest and smiling. “Yeah! I love you so, so _, so much!!”_

Rin must be dreaming. That was the only explanation, because this could not be happening anywhere but in a dream.

Yet Yugo didn’t disappear. He still stood there, looking hopefully at her with big, glimmering eyes that were full of _love._ For _her._

Rin smiles, feeling her warm cheeks hurt from how wide it was and her eyes probably looked identical to Yugo’s but she didn’t care.

“I love you too, Yugo. I love you so, so, _so much._ ”

Yugo grins wide, and seems to no longer be able to stand still. He dashes forward to close the distance between them, almost bowling her over as his arms wrap around her neck.

Rin catches him with wide arms, hugging him tightly to her as butterflies fill her to the brim. She lifts him off his feet and spins around, making Yugo laugh in delight.

“I love you, Rin!”

He loved her.

_Yugo loved her._

Rin was so happy she could cry.

“I love you too, Yugo,” she says as she sets him back on her feet, burying her face in his hair as he snuggles into her neck. They’re hugging each other so tight it was like they were trying to fuse into one. He was warm and fit so perfectly in her arms, it was ridiculous. Like he had been made for her to embrace.

“Hey, Yugo?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Yugo jumps in her arms, drawing back to look at her, blushing. His arms are still wrapped around her, growing a little tighter.

When she thinks he’ll say no, Yugo nods with a shy smile. And then he closes his eyes, leaning in slightly.

_‘You will most definitely be the death of me.’_

Rin leans in the rest of the way and presses their lips together for a kiss. Yugo’s arms tighten around her neck and her arms shift to hold him comfortably and securely against her. She could touch him, she was allowed to, and everything was so wonderful it made her kiss him deeper.

Yugo moans as Rin licks his lower lip, the sound making a shiver run down her back, followed by another one as his mouth parted to let her in. Their tongues meet and touch, carefully yet eagerly, both wanting to savour the moment but also wanting to touch and taste all they could of the other as fast as possible.

Rin slides a hand up the powder pink sweater she had lent to Yugo, making him let out another moan against her mouth. She ran her hand up his back, over his soft, pale skin that was slowly heating up. His hands tangle in her hair, Rin letting out a pleased sound as he pulls carefully at the strands.

Sadly, they have to separate when air becomes a necessity. They part, but not very far, faces mere centimetres apart as they pant and look into each other’s eyes.

Rin tightens her hold on Yugo, then hefts him so she can hold him up, hands folded under him. He yelps, then look down at her with an embarrassed yet enthralled look. It made her skin tingle and insides squirm like mad.

“The living room feels a bit too impersonal to be doing this in,” she says, voice low. “Wanna move to my bedroom?”

Yugo blushes bright red to the tip of his ears, almost making Rin sigh from how cute he looked.

Hands move to cup her face as Yugo leans down to touch his forehead to her’s. He smiles, anticipation overpowering the embarrassment. “Sounds good.”

Rin grins, the gesture feeling a bit too wide and sharp. But Yugo doesn’t shrink away, instead she feels him shiver against her.

Rin walks to her room with her precious, valuable haul. The door closes behind her as Yugo leans down to eagerly kiss her again, Rin meeting him with the same vigor.

They ended up not leaving that room for long for the rest of the day. Neither minded at all.

Because they had both finally gotten what they wanted for so long.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Note I didn't find room to insert naturally but I still want to add: The reason Rin's potions didn't work is because they don't work if the person you're trying to make fall for you already loves you. Yugo already loved Rin, she just didn't notice. This is also true for the aphrodisiac potion but in a different way, aka they won't work unless the one taking them loves their partner. So if Yugo hadn't loved Rin, it would have had no effect on him.
> 
> To put it bluntly: They're both oblivious idiots and are thus perfect for each other


End file.
